Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

The United Colors of FBA

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Lovely!
Is that a chicken shaped mat they are on?

 

[featherhead007]

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I'm not so keen on being a wild cat on cold days. I even walk around in this pillow case for a blanket

Jaffar was covered up like that this morning. Poor little guy was sneezing so I warmed him up.

 

[ValarieF]

My egg collecting apron

 

[RoyalChick]

My egg collecting apron
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Very cute. I love the chicken fabric.
I haven't got used to having eggs again so am a bit lot as to how I collect them. I think I put them in my pockets - you have too many for that!

 

[ValarieF]

Very cute. I love the chicken fabric.
I haven't got used to having eggs again so am a bit lot as to how I collect them. I think I put them in my pockets - you have too many for that!

I collect 8-10 eggs a day. And now at least 3 Anconas are laying. SO thats 12 chickens laying. I have divided collecting them to twice a day. OMG Shes singing the chicken song and Zeus sings with them.

 

[lightm]

Lovely twofers @ManueB! I for one will miss you greatly on this thread, so do please come back whenever you can. Remember pictures for Fridays and Mondays and don’t forget Tuesdays and Thursdays. That should be enough in a week for us to benefit from your lovely contributions!!

Maybe we should all try and temper the number of posts we make?
Which is faster to read - the multi-quote approach (@ManueB uses that to good effect), or the multiple one-liners (@Ponypoor and I usually do that)?

I have been trying to hold back my more trivial posts because I am conscious that FBA would be nowhere near as wonderful if Bob and others fall back, and we have already lost a number of lovely FBA friends, who have given up on us because of volume.

I am a fast reader and ruthless at scanning (so I sometimes miss detail), I am also retired, and even I am finding I struggle. My strategy is very frequent very short engagement - if I miss a day I feel I am drowning!

Gratuitous tax picture because there is always time for a green chicken.
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Lovely picture of Eli (hopefully I got her name correctly)

 

[GregnLety]

There's a young 13 year old boy not far from where I live that is becoming very nasty, as far as I know he hasn't hurt animals YET but he's calling his mother and also me yesterday "crazy bitches" he very abusive and it's bothering me where this will all lead.

I have noticed that sort of behaviour progresses, next from the verbal can turn into physical violence .
That kid, I can honestly say scares me and I don't scare easily, it's almost like I can sense he is going to become a very big problem in the not to distant future...to put it another way my door is now permanently locked!

It's sad because this area became relatively safe but his presence has really put a sharp edge on this place

The only time I ever cursed in front of my mom my dad put me over his knee and spanked me like I was 5. I was 15 and big for my age but that definitely brought me back to earth.

 

[bgmathteach]

I got some very upsetting and disturbing news today. I have posted a few times about a friend of ours who got four chicks last spring. He lost one of them to a fox several months back, so he has been keeping them locked up most of the time and only letting them out in the yard when someone will be outside. Especially since a hawk has been hanging around. About a week ago he told us that one of them had died suddenly. She hasn’t been acting sick, other than the fact that all of them had been acting stressed and haven’t laid any eggs in over a month. This seemed really unusual to me for pullets in their first winter, especially as far south as we are. But he couldn’t figure out why she would have died so suddenly. She was a beautiful Buff Orpington, and he said she was definitely their sweetest one.

Today he called to tell us he figured out what happened. The story his 11-year-old son told just didn’t seem quite right. He was outside playing, which was why the chickens were getting some time out in the yard. He had come in and said there was something wrong with one of the chickens, and when our friend went outside to check she was already cold and getting stiff. The son said he hadn’t seen anything happen. Well a few days ago our friend decided to ask his son again if he had seen her acting strangely or anything else. The boy finally said the chicken had been chasing him and pecking him, so he kicked her! Our friend and his wife were very upset, especially since the son has also been having behavioral issues in school. They took him to see a psychiatrist yesterday, and he was diagnosed with ADHD and put on meds. But in my opinion things still don’t add up. I find it hard to believe that a small boy was able to kick the chicken hard enough to kill it almost instantly with a single kick, especially if he was also trying to run away from it. I think he was a little more deliberate in his actions, and probably cornered her and kicked her numerous times or dis something else to her. And just ADHD doesn’t excuse that behavior. We also think he has probably been chasing them, throwing things at them for some time, which could help explain why they are acting stressed/nervous and not laying. The poor chickens. We told our friend he needs to keep a VERY close eye on his son, and I think he also needs counseling. They have taken away all his screen time as punishment, he isn’t even allowed to be in the same room if they are watching television. But I am so worried about the other chickens, and he definitely shouldn’t be allowed around them unsupervised any more.

Here is a picture of the poor chicken that he killed, I can’t remember her name.
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That is very frightening and I think you may be right. He should not be around the chickens supervised. A single kick might injure a bird but unless you snapped its neck somehow it should not kill it instantly. How very sad all around.

This is awful. I feel for the parents. And no, ADHD doesnt cover what he did. I wouldn't let him around any animals. Unfortunately kids who kill animals at a young age turn into very bad people.

There has been studies on this in the last couple of decades. This child definitely needs help. More help than just ADHD meds. (I had/have ADHD, not diagnosed until well into adulthood, and I never, ever abused an animal - ADHD is not the cause - but may be a contributing factor in lack of control over those tendencies caused by other things) All the animals and people the child (now and in the future) comes in contact with will appreciate him getting sufficient help. I truly feel for these parents and their pets/chickens. No one can provide such constant supervision that he can't at some point 'sneak out'. I hope he (the child) can get treatment that is sufficient.

RIP, poor sweet BO girl! May you never have any more stress nor harassment, and may you be able to free range in lush pastures full of greens, insects/worms and free of predators.

What a lovely girl she was, thank you for sharing such a beautiful picture of her @TX Chick Noob :
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Links to some various studies/literature regarding violence to animals and violence in general - links between the two
https://ncovaa.org/facts/#:~:text=Analyses by sociologists, psychologists and,acts of violence against humans.

\https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=DzqUJ0l42T0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=studies+between+animal+abuse+and+human+abuse&ots=dzTyx4DHkm&sig=65Qdpzpn_mScfFVXi1gJ13-1kfI#v=onepage&q=studies between animal abuse and human abuse&f=false

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00480169.2008.36800

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/088626099014009004?journalCode=jiva

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=`Children+Who+Are+Cruel+to+Animals:+A+Review+of+Research+and+Implications+for+Developmental+Psychopathology'&publication_year=1993&journal=Anthrozoos&pages=226-247

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@ValarieF
You might like this article. Not scientific, but I found it informative none-the-less. (Note I have never owned Silkies!)

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Tax:

My Buff Orpingtons have always been such sweet, gentle giants! I have a girl (will have to get a picture this weekend!) Whom I have named 'Marylin'. I have names her such because she is a 'blonde bombshell'. Truly gorgeous color, and such a heavy girl, she weights what I would think a bomb would!!!. I thought she was a 'he' at first because she was so big & heavy...and reddened up in the comb earlier than the others. She presently is heavier than ALL of my chickens except for Nappy (who is one heavy boy!) She weighs more than all of the other roos, never mind the other girls!

Since I'm, at work, I'm presenting general pictures of BOs. again, I will get pictures of my Sweet Marilyn this weekend to share!

 

[RoyalChick]

You are correct, bantams cannot be vent sexed. I wish there was a gene test developed that could test for males using poop as a biological material!!!

Oh my goodness look at this lovely wattles! Wow I love them!!!

You can totally do a DNA test for gender. It costs about $20 and you just need a throat or vent swab, or a few plucked feathers, or a few drops of blood.
I think mostly people wait to find out because that is free. But if you can’t wait then for sure you can get an earlier result from a lab.

 

[knoturavggrl]

I got chicken time today!!

Had my post-op visit today. Got the stitches out and have a boot now instead of a splint. When we got home, DH helped me get to the coop to spend a little time with the girls. It was so nice to see them and have a little time outside.

On a more concerning note, I noticed some of their backsides didn’t seem very fluffy so took a closer look. They are missing feathers! Don’t like the look of it at all, please feel free to read/comment on the thread I started in the disease section it you have any idea what it is or how to treat.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/missing-feathers-near-vent.1564443/

Then I got to visit Squeak (my car that lives in my office building. He had a small wound on his paw that was oozing some pus. So I cleaned that up and Vetricyn on it. DH will try to spray to once a day. Would prefer it to be 2-3 times a day but I know he can’t manage that.

Here are a few pics/video of me visiting the girls (from my chicken cam), and a pic of my fancy new boot.

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Glad you gained some mobility back and were able to get out to see your flock! I do not know why the missing feathers I will take a look at your thread to learn with you.